The Sacrifice of the Servant

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” (v. 4).

The servant must focus on his mission. Jesus identified His mission as “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). He was passionately consumed with that mission. John the Baptist summed it up when he said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” (John 1:29), but here Isaiah spells out what that involved. The Servant of the Lord was “stricken, smitten of God, afflicted,” He was “wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities,” chastised for our peace, seeking our healing with His stripes. The mission, not the sacrifice, occupied Him!

However, it is the sacrifice that grabs our attention when verse 6 of this passage says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Yet the cost of the sacrifice did not thwart His mission of love! As Lord and Servant-Savior, He willingly sacrificed to the utmost to accomplish His mission for you and me! (Rodney Stearns)